No Aquino Dynasty, Filipino Voters Say

January 21, 1988|The New York Times

MANILA -- Partial results of local elections held across the nation Monday led Philippine analysts to conclude on Wednesday that President Corazon C. Aquino remains popular but that her relatives are not.

Losses by a sister-in-law and a cousin in key races are being described as a vote against her family`s efforts to build a political dynasty, an issue that has simmered here during her 23-month-old administration.

The voting, in which more than 150,000 candidates ran for 16,000 provincial and local posts, was relatively peaceful after a violent campaign in which the military said more than 100 people, including 39 candidates, were killed.

The election of officials to replace appointed ``officers in charge`` completed the reestablishment of democratic government under Aquino, after earlier votes on a new Constitution and a two-house legislature.

``We can expect a certain stability,`` said Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, an opposition leader who was dismissed as defense minister last year after being implicated in attempts to undermine the government.

Sen. Ernesto Maceda, an ally of the president, said: ``The election will give the government more stability as far as the insurgency is concerned. Elected officials will make the government`s presence felt at the local level.``

Maceda also described the election as the final demise of the political party of former President Ferdinand E. Marcos, as his supporters made tactical alliances with parties in the government coalition.

Most of the races were decided on the basis of local personal rivalries, rather than on issues or on national or party alliances.

Even in races where the president made a personal endorsement, according to her brother-in-law and campaign strategist, Paul Aquino, the ``Cory factor`` may have accounted for no more than 5 percent.

It appeared that the majority of candidates backed by the president were prevailing and that she maintained at least a measure of her political popularity.

Nevertheless, attention has been focused on the defeat of her sister-in- law, Mila Aquino-Albert, in the race for mayor of Quezon City, a Manila suburb, and of her cousin, Victor Sumulong, in a bid for the governorship of Rizal Province.